New Motor

[ffgb]

I have 40 miles on my rebuilt 84 1.6N/A JK motor.  I made sure the first 20 miles were broken-in pretty good.  I am going to change the oil to shell rotella 30wt and drive as many street miles as possible.  I am going to drive the car from Southern California to Northern California in 2 days on Highway 5.  How many miles should the motor have before driving on the freeway for 6-7hrs straight?  Also, the posted speed limit on the 5 freeway after the grapevine is 70mph if that makes any difference.  Thanks!

[arb]

I have 40 miles on my rebuilt 84 1.6N/A JK motor.  I made sure the first 20 miles were broken-in pretty good.  I am going to change the oil to shell rotella 30wt and drive as many street miles as possible.  I am going to drive the car from Southern California to Northern California in 2 days on Highway 5.  How many miles should the motor have before driving on the freeway for 6-7hrs straight?  Also, the posted speed limit on the 5 freeway after the grapevine is 70mph if that makes any difference.  Thanks!

For a rebuild I like to see at least 500 - 1000 miles.  If you need to make the trip before this, don't hold a steady speed - be constantly going up and down 10 or 15 mph. Most OEM's also say this for a new motor...

[ffgb]

Wow, it's going to be hard to accumulate 400-500 in 2 days!

[745 turbogreasel]

So long as all is well(no leaks, funny running,etc), I don't see much difference if the miles are all in one trip or not, so long as you avoid steady state cruise. CA33 should be gorgeous right about now...
I'd suggest the cost, but if you need a tow, it will not be pretty

[arb]

Wow, it's going to be hard to accumulate 400-500 in 2 days!

Don't sweat it dude... like 745 said, just don't do steady state speed. I worked with a few mechanics when I turned wrench for a living, their theory was, drive a new engine the same way the first month as you intend to the last month you have it (after 100K) - I'm more conservative on that that, but you get the idea - there are as many ideas on this as there are cars :-D

[VW Smokr]

With 4-5 SoCal-to-WA round trips per year... BTDT. Watch your coolant temps, especially going over the grapevine (I'm assuming you installed NEW, but boil-tested, thermostat and thermostatic fan switch during the rebuilding event). Be willing to get in the slow lane next to the big rigs, so that you can vary your road speeds & engine RPMs, using 3rd & 4th gears. Especially avoid the temptation to lug it in 5th gear. Change the oil & filter, or have it changed, @ the first 500 miles, even if you have to bring your own oil & filter along to get what you want.

Happy trails.

J.R.
SoCal

[Rabbit on Roids]

Wow, it's going to be hard to accumulate 400-500 in 2 days!

hard to accumulate 500 in 2 days? i can do 500 miles in PART of a day..

as for a new engine on a road trip, ive done it. the 1.5 thats in my car got put in it, fired up, made sure it didnt leak, and then took it on a 300 mile road trip on I5 no less. lol. come to think of it, i break in lots of parts on I5. never thought of it like that. head gaskets, clutches, new engines, transmissions, lol.. all been broken in on I5.

and i wouldnt worry too much about freeway speeds on a new engine, unless you have a ghetto low geared 4 speed..

just dont glaze the rings!

[ffgb]

Yeah, I have the 4-speed

[Vincent Waldon]

I am going to change the oil to shell rotella 30wt

Just another thought here... not sure which oil you mean by this??

[ffgb]

I just changed the oil after the first 20-30miles.  I went with Shell Rotella straight 30wt.  I wanted to get as much of the crap, meaning the metal particles out of the engine from the first start up to the 20-30miles.  Also, the break in oil I had in there originally was non-detergent 30wt with a bottle of Crane Cams zinc additive.  I wanted to put detergent oil in there now, that's why I went with Shell Rotella diesel oil.
Thanks